Intimidated by a new acqusition - how does it work?

Hi all, I am new to this so please be gentle with me! In a moment of madness, I recently purchased the steam engine below at auction. I just saw it as a thing of beauty, but would dearly love to fire it up. Could anyone give me some pointers, starting with what it should be running on - I am guessing butane? I want to see it running, but I don't want to break anything in the process! Is there anything I should be particularly careful about? Any pointers gratefully appreciated.

Edited By JasonB on 27/09/2013 13:08:12

Hello James,

It looks like a gas burner at one end, the red thing is a pump to keep the boiler topped up.

I'm assuming that your boiler is about 4" in diameter, in which case it is rather bigger than the 'Mamod' style (although it appears to have a mamod safety valve) and even though copper boilers don't degrade rapidly I would suggest finding a local model engineering club who could help with a simple pressure test and checking the safety valve. They might recommend you fit a larger safety valve, although the use of a mamod one implies it is designed to work at quite low pressure.

Anyone carrying out such a test would be able to explain the various valves and sight glass etc.

Neil

Just a little hint when photographing things like this, include something to scale against, ie., a 6" rule, or some thing similar. Ian S C

I like your model very much. When you have got round to running it maybe you could film it and post a link here so we can watch.

I fully go along with Neils advice about a pressure test.

Stay safe.

Rik

I ,too, would say please do a pressure test before firing it. Colin

Thanks for the responses. Will post a video link if and when I finally get it working. Best regards. James

Whistle is Mamod as well. Once you know it is sound it would be a good idea to get an uprated safety valve from Dream Steam or a similar company which will allow the engine to work better. As it is running a standard Mamod safety it will not generate enough pressure to be really dangerous, but advice to seek guidance and testing is good in your position.